At the anniversary celebration of the Technical Physics study program, its founding fathers looked back on the subject's beginnings, while alumni told of the successful and sometimes surprising career paths their studies have enabled them to follow.
The Technical Physics study program has been in existence at TU Ilmenau for more than 25 years. Alumni, students and teachers now celebrated the existence of their study program with a festive event. The festivities on November 25 and 26 were divided into three sections, "Yesterday", "Today" and "Tomorrow", and ended with a tour of the Fararaday Building, which many former students had not yet seen in its renovated state.
Using projected photos, Prof. Gerhard Gobsch, Prof. Jürgen Schäfer and Prof. Klaus Handrich recalled the origins of the course. Long before the turnaround in 1990, before the third university reform of the GDR, there had already been a course of study "Technical Physics" for a short time. However, there was no longer an institute for physics at the time of the turnaround, but there was a PHYTEB section: Physics and Technology of Physical Components. In the wild years after the reunification, students were simply enrolled before the responsible ministry stopped the course in 1992. So especially the three mentioned and Prof. Schnittler, who at the same time was also a member of the Bundestag, sat down together and designed "Technical Physics". Already by its name, but also by its classification as an engineering course, a duplication of offers in the Free State of Thuringia was avoided. Details on the early history of the Institute of Physics can be found in the article series "Zeitenwende" by Schnittler and Teichmann.
Broad-based knowledge transfer
As impulses for a general discussion, four alumni first presented their life paths, according to Fire Director Dr. Tobias Erb, formerly a full-blooded physicist and hobby firefighter, today a hobby physicist and full-blooded firefighter as IT manager of the 112 emergency call control center of the Munich Fire Department. He says that the very broadly based technical knowledge he acquired during his studies helps him to analyze the diverse and at the same time technically complex processes of a metropolis with millions of inhabitants and, above all, the associated dangers in the event of malfunctions, step by step, and thus to develop a solution and a decision for further action.
Christoph Minz (PhD) has remained a full-blooded physicist and is now researching the fundamentals of quantum gravity. He adds:
The study of technical physics is not only a good basis for a wide variety of careers in business and industry, but also provides the necessary theoretical expertise for more in-depth studies in physics or even a life path in research.
Dr. Angela Ulbrich has had a completely different experience. She is now a secondary school teacher in her home in Eichsfeld, Thuringia. Like other graduates of the program, she is cushioning the glaring shortage of teachers as a career changer and is benefiting from the broad STEM expertise imparted during her studies.
All of them emphasized the added value of learning about engineering problems in the language of engineers. They would have liked a little more contact with practical project management.
Six students and doctoral candidates presented their work and thus current research topics of the Institute of Physics. In this way, they showed the graduates how their alma mater is developing. The topics range from fundamental physics such as quantum electrodynamics of disordered structures to concrete applications such as novel magnetic sensors.
Alumni support students
Students, faculty and alumni used the anniversary event to share their experiences and generate new impetus for their studies. A common thread in all the conversations was the alumni's willingness to support current students through a variety of offerings, be it personal mentoring, seminars and workshops, or career-related internships and job placement. Thus, the anniversary event already began on Friday afternoon with two interactive workshops in which two graduates and two alumnae wanted to pass on some life experience. Dr. Nicole Killat from Infineon and Katharina Schulz from Evonik began their workshop with a networking session for all participants: They tossed each other a ball of yarn and key words until everyone was literally "networked" with everyone else. In the process, Dr. Killat recounted that she had hardly been able to eat for days because of her "unbelievable fear of the chemistry pre-degree exam," and now she was discussing it at eye level with Prof. Scharff, who was the rector at the time:
That clearly shows how familiar our faculty is! University is a bit like a family. A family to which you can give something back later, to which you want to come back again and again.
Chris Bohlemann, who chaired the meeting as a representative of the co-organizing jDPG (young German Physical Society), summed up the weekend like this:
Now that I hear how far many graduates of technical physics have made it, it inspires me to invest even more in my studies in order to make it that far. It is simply amazing to see how diverse the possibilities are after graduation, whether to stay in science and expand the knowledge of mankind at many international stations or to contribute to the success of companies in various positions in the economy. I am convinced that I can find a great job anywhere with this degree.
Alumni expressed gratitude to their alma mater, including Marko Hofmann, Vice President Europe at Seoul Viosys Co. LTD:
Returning to TU Ilmenau and especially to the Physics Group 13 years after successfully defending my diploma thesis was a poignant experience. I was especially pleased that many former professors and lecturers, to whom I owe my current career, also attended. In addition to very interesting presentations of research by undergraduate and graduate students, I was also thrilled to hear from graduates from matriculation 1998 to 2015 about their careers. It's unbelievable what a wide range of opportunities the Technical Physics stidy program allows. I hope the word gets out even more and the new lecture halls are filled to bursting with many curious physics students.
In conclusion, the Director of the Institute of Physics, Prof. Erich Runge, expressed his delight at the diverse career prospects of the graduates of his course:
Because there is no clear job description of a 'technical physicist', often colorful life paths have brought the graduates to professional positions they never aspired to, but in which they are objectively successful and, above all, subjectively also very satisfied. They look back with gratitude on the Ilmenau study period and predominantly think that they were very well prepared for their careers, which were so unpredictable and surprisingly successful for themselves.
Impressions of the anniversary celebration
Contact
Prof. Erich Runge
Director of the Institute of Physics